An assistant principal at the prestigious Downingtown STEM Academy has been placed on paid leave after being video-recorded cursing at two teenage anti-abortion protesters on school property, telling them that aborted fetuses were "cells," that he was gay and didn't "give a [expletive] about Jesus," and then loudly singing "I Love a Parade," apparently to drown out the pair.

On April 21, Zach Ruff, 40, dean of academics and student life, confronted the protesters while cars were leaving school at the end of the day. Connor and Lauren Haines, brother and sister, do not attend the academy and are thought to be from the Philadelphia area. They held religious and antiabortion signs as students drove past.

On Thursday, as the video spread online and students learned what had happened, several started a petition asking the Downingtown Area School District not to fire Ruff, who has worked there 14 years.

The petition, which now has more than 21,000 signatures -- the district has 12,000 students total -- said that Ruff was a "crucial and valuable" employee and that he has tried to make sure "that his students are safe and have a comfortable environment to learn in."

Public Advocate president Eugene Delgaudio said "Protecting the free speech of young Christians who are peacefully advocating on a public sidewalk is a Constitutionally protected right. It is appropriate to remove an official who openly declares their sexual orientation as an excuse to discriminate and in fact flies in the face of American religious liberty," says Eugene Delgaudio, president, Public Advocate of the US.